Conventional clippers used for cutting branches of grape vines, trees and the like are all generally of the type having wooden handles of about 15 to 18 inches long, the handles being connected to respective cutter blades and held in the hands in front of the body whereby the hands are moved toward and away from each other in a generally horizontal or inclined plane. A shock absorber is usually mounted near the rear of one of the blades for engagement by the rear portion of the other blade when the blades are brought together. Such shock absorber has a metal pin engaging a washer which is spaced from a second washer, and a rubber snubber is between the two washers. Thus, the rear of the other blade, being metal, strikes the metal pin to present a metal-to-metal contact notwithstanding the presence of the snubber between the washers. The pin, when it is struck by the other blade, moves the first washer toward the second washer and, in doing so, causes the snubber to compress. This supposedly absorbs some of the shock associated with the closing of the blades.
However, the metal-to-metal contact between the pin and the other blade creates a shock which is not fully absorbed by the snubber. A portion of this shock travels through the handles, through the hands and arms and to the back muscles of the workman using the clipper. Thus, the muscles of the arms and back must absorb this portion of the shock and this shock absorption by the muscles creates muscular fatigue requiring frequent rest period during a working day. As a result of this problem, a need has arisen for an improved shock absorber for a conventional clipper which, when the clipper blades are moved together, substantially eliminates or minimizes such muscular fatigue.